WASHINGTON: China’s ambassador to the United States thanked Elon Musk for proposing a special administration zone for Taiwan, while Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington reprimanded the billionaire saying its “freedom and democracy are not for sale”.

“Taiwan sells many products, but our freedom and democracy are not for sale,” Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Washington, tweeted on Saturday (Oct 8). “Any lasting proposal for our future must be determined peacefully, free from coercion, and respectful of the democratic wishes of the people of Taiwan.”

China’s ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, stressed Beijing’s call for “peaceful reunification and ‘one country, two systems'” for the island in a tweet on Saturday while thanking Musk.

Days after floating a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine that drew condemnation in Ukraine, Musk suggested tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing.

“My recommendation …  would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy,” Musk told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday.

Musk was responding to a question about China, where his Tesla electric car company operates a large factory.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as one of its provinces, has long vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so. Democratically ruled Taiwan’s government strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s 23 million people can decide its future.

In tweets posted on Saturday, the Chinese ambassador wrote: “I would like to thank @elonmusk for his call for peace across the Taiwan Strait and his idea about establishing a special administrative zone for Taiwan.”

“Actually, Peaceful reunification and One Country, Two Systems are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question … and the best approach to realizing national reunification,” he added.

“Provided that China’s sovereignty, security and development interests are guaranteed, after reunification Taiwan will enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region, and a vast space for development,” the ambassador wrote.

China has offered Taiwan a “one country, two systems” model of autonomy similar to what Hong Kong has, but that has been rejected by all mainstream political parties in Taiwan and has very little public support, especially after Beijing imposed a tough National Security Law in Hong Kong in 2020.

WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk, days after floating a possible deal to end the war between Russia and Ukraine that drew condemnation in Ukraine, suggested that tensions between China and Taiwan could be resolved by handing over some control of Taiwan to Beijing.

“My recommendation . . . would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy,” Musk, the world’s richest person, told the Financial Times in an interview published on Friday (Oct 7).

Musk made the remarks when asked by the newspaper about China, where his Tesla electric car company operates a large factory in Shanghai.

Beijing, which says democratically ruled Taiwan is one of its provinces, has long vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.

Taiwan’s government strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s 23 million people can decide its future.

“And it’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong,” Musk, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The Shanghai factory accounted for about half of Tesla’s global deliveries last year. Musk also said China has sought assurances that he would not offer the Starlink Internet service of his SpaceX rocket company there.

Musk said he reckoned that conflict over Taiwan was inevitable and warned of its potential impact on not only Tesla, but also on iPhone maker Apple and the wider economy. The interview did not elaborate on those remarks.

Earlier this week, Musk proposed that Ukraine permanently cede Crimea to Russia, that new referendums be held under UN auspices to determine the fate of Russian-controlled territory, and that Ukraine agree to neutrality.

He asked Twitter users to weigh in on his plan, drawing sharp criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who proposed his own Twitter poll: “Which @elonmusk do you like more? One who supports Ukraine (or) one who supports Russia.”